NFL Week 5: If we have to pee in a cup, why can't presidential debate candidates

[derspiess]

BW photos and zip lines FTW   

And game film was really film back then

[alfred russel]

Yep, seems dead simple in theory.  But sometimes you have a tablet that just decides to stop trying to communicate with the server.  Sometimes a service or process on the server hiccups or gets stuck and you have to restart it.  Sometimes you have two or three large NFL player bodies between the wifi antenna and tablet that interrupt the signal.  Sometimes early in the season the temperature is well into the 90s and you have tablets overheating.  Sometimes it rains cats and dogs and the supposedly waterproofed devices get soaked.  Sometimes there's a stadium power issue (that was the root cause of the two most publicized incidents last year).

We've found that the sweet spot is about 8 devices connected to the server; get above that and things start slowing down a bit. if you get the maximum allowed 13 devices out in circulation on the bench it can really strain the server.

For me most games are uneventful.  Occasionally I have to manually reconnect a "stuck" device or help with operator error-type situations, but most of the time I can catch most of the game as I'm monitoring my tablets.

But doesn't that seem like a product that wasn't designed as well as it should have been?

[derspiess]

Yep, seems dead simple in theory.  But sometimes you have a tablet that just decides to stop trying to communicate with the server.  Sometimes a service or process on the server hiccups or gets stuck and you have to restart it.  Sometimes you have two or three large NFL player bodies between the wifi antenna and tablet that interrupt the signal.  Sometimes early in the season the temperature is well into the 90s and you have tablets overheating.  Sometimes it rains cats and dogs and the supposedly waterproofed devices get soaked.  Sometimes there's a stadium power issue (that was the root cause of the two most publicized incidents last year).

We've found that the sweet spot is about 8 devices connected to the server; get above that and things start slowing down a bit. if you get the maximum allowed 13 devices out in circulation on the bench it can really strain the server.

For me most games are uneventful.  Occasionally I have to manually reconnect a "stuck" device or help with operator error-type situations, but most of the time I can catch most of the game as I'm monitoring my tablets.

But doesn't that seem like a product that wasn't designed as well as it should have been?

Again, you can design something that works great in a lab but falls apart in a practical situation.  Then you have MS, the league and DVSport butting heads on how best to design/fix things...

[Valmy]

I start feeling good about the Redskins and see how they repay me?

[alfred russel]

Again, you can design something that works great in a lab but falls apart in a practical situation.  Then you have MS, the league and DVSport butting heads on how best to design/fix things...

Yeah, but the NFL is a multibillion dollar business. I'd have thought they (along with Microsoft) would have the kinks worked out before kickoff. An NFL stadium isn't a lab, but it isn't like they are trying to operate the tablets on the moon either.

[CountDeMoney]

How about you get right on that then, Dorsey.

[derspiess]

Yeah, but the NFL is a multibillion dollar business. I'd have thought they (along with Microsoft) would have the kinks worked out before kickoff. An NFL stadium isn't a lab, but it isn't like they are trying to operate the tablets on the moon either.

First of all, the still shot system works pretty well in general.  Most coaches seem happy with it and I am not aware of many other than Belichick who initially adopted the tablet and then went back to paper.  Anyway, yes there are some kinks, but they are not for a lack of resources dedicated by all three parties involved. 

Also, a cynical person might say the whole thing was just a way for MS to pay the league a bunch of money to get its logo permanently on the sideline.  Not me, but a cynical person.

[alfred russel]

How about you get right on that then, Dorsey.

This country used to be great. We stormed Omaha Beach, dropped atomic bombs on Asian people, and landed a dozen or two men on the men. Even that one time we failed to get our space ship to the moon we turned it into a pretty good Tom Hanks movie.

Now we can't get tablets to work on an NFL sideline. Okay, "the still shot system works pretty well in general" but there are "kinks". What would Neil Armstrong have said to that?

[CountDeMoney]

Neil Armstrong would've already unplugged the router for 30 seconds and plugged it back in.

[derspiess]

Now we can't get tablets to work on an NFL sideline. Okay, "the still shot system works pretty well in general" but there are "kinks". What would Neil Armstrong have said to that?

https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2016/10/21/surface-and-the-nfl-changing-the-game/#wblPssadrzsWH4t1.97

No further comments 

[jimmy olsen]

Just watched the Arizona vs. Seattle game.

What the fuck was that!?

[Ed Anger]

I think I'm done with the NFL. The product sucks, the broadcasters suck and the commissioner can eat a dick.

Bleh.